Jim’s Thursday Inspiration theme word this week is train. The above pic is Ticket to Ride (European version), one of my most favorite games. I rarely win, but I love planning out my routes and seeing the board fill up with train cars. Besides games and books, there have been loads of trains in films, such as North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, Risky Business, The Girl on the Train, Murder on the Orient Express, From Russia with Love, and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.
And, of course, there are a ton of songs that mention trains. From Kenny Rogers to the O’Jays to Aerosmith, we find references to trains across the spectrum. We have love trains and peace trains and the Last Train to Clarksville. There’s the Midnight Train to Georgia and the City of New Orleans. Don’t forget downtown trains or runaway trains or trains to nowhere. But the king of train songs was none other than Johnny Cash.
Johnny wrote about trains representing freedom to a man in prison (“Folsom Prison Blues”) as well as a train carrying a man back home (“Hey Porter”). “Orange Blossom Special” is one of his most well known train songs. Perhaps you’ve heard “Down There by the Train” or “Hey Hey Train.” You can hear the chug-chug rhythm in a lot of his other songs too. Last but not least, there’s a tribute song for JC called “Long Black Train.” Yep, I think we’d all agree that the Man in Black had a thing about trains… (RIP)
Happy Friday! This was an exciting week with two guest kitties, but they’ve gone home now, and all is back to normal. I think I’m allergic to new fur ~ it takes me a while to get used to a new cat or dog, including my grand-dogs, so if I’m only around them a day or two, I get all itchy stuffy. You would think that taking a Benadryl before bed would not only help the itchy stuffies, but also help me get a better night’s sleep. But alas, no. My sleep has been pretty bad this week as well. Gatsby does not give me the itchy stuffies, though he may have at first, but that was so long ago now I can’t remember.
Jim Adams had the prompt of “radio” for his Thursday Inspiration this week, which reminded me that I no longer listen to radio stations. Ever since my daughter added me to her Spotify premium account, I’ve only had that on in the car. There’s no reason whatsoever to go back to regular radio and have to listen to all the ridiculous commercials. It would be like returning to regular TV after Prime and Netflix. One song I enjoy that has radio in the lyrics is “Angie Baby” by Helen Reddy (RIP). Yep, another blast from the past!
You live your life in the songs you hear On the rock n’ roll radio And when a young girl doesn’t have any friends That’s a really nice place to go Folks hoping you’d turn out cool But they had to take you out of school You’re a little touched, you know, Angie baby
[Character recap: Miranda is dating Chad, an artist who still lives with his cage-fighter wife; Dulcie, Miranda’s best friend, broke up with Spencer when he had to leave the country for work; Odwin (Oddy) has traveled to Earth from another planet in search of his father.]
“So Chad reconciled with his wife,” Miranda announced over half-caff boysenberry soy lattes and ginger banana cookies. “I suppose I should have seen that coming.”
“What a jerk!” Dulcie yelled.
“Shh, it’s cool,” Miranda said. “I’m like totally over it. Besides, I smeared him all over social media, which was very cathartic.”
Dulcie shrugged and broke off a piece of her cookie. “Sorry for being loud, but really he led you on for way too long. Anyway, moving on. I’ve been seeing that weird guy we met at the mall.”
“The space alien?” Miranda stared at Dulcie in shock. “I’m flabbergasted. You were such a puristabout dating Earth guys.”
“Earth guys are liars and fraudsters,” Dulcie proclaimed. “Oddy is the real thing.”
Miranda shook her head. “Let’s unravel this thread by thread. Did you help him find his father?”
“Tom Cruise wouldn’t talk to us unless Oddy submitted a DNA test, which obviously he can’t do since he’s half alien.” Dulcie sighed. “Oddy was very disappointed, but I consoled him.”
“I bet you did.” Miranda toasted Dulcie with her coffee cup. “Cheers!”
“Thanks, sweetie. Don’t worry. I gave him the mandatoryspeech about how I’m not into meaningless encounters and this has to actually go somewhere.”
“But where can it go?”
Dulcie grinned. “He invited me to his home planet.”
Maggie continues her Tranquil Thursday series with some questions about truth and stuff.
Do you hold a personal truth?
My personal truth is: “Life is short, so eat dessert first.”
Do you hold a truth so powerful, you would put your life on the line to protect it?
Would I die for a donut? Probably not. If it were necessary, I’d risk my life to protect my daughters and/or grandchildren, though I can’t imagine why this would happen. More practically, I might end my life so as not to become a horrible burden to them. This of course assumes I’d be aware of my state and have the means. Those are two huge ifs.
Do you hold universal truths? Is the sky blue? Is the world round?
The sky isn’t always blue, nor is the world perfectly round, but it makes life easier to accept conventional language/ideas and proceed accordingly. I am always open to the possibility of exceptions, though I remain skeptical of anything new in the absence of proof.
Bottom line: truth is subjective. It relies on our fallible human perceptions and can change depending on circumstances.
How do your religious or spiritual beliefs align with your personal truth?
The following meme pretty well sums up my feelings on both religion and spirituality, which I use interchangeably. Sometimes I have caught a glimpse of the black cat, so I am not denigrating other people’s reality. As I said, it’s subjective.
On a very simple level, how important is it that you are truthful in life and that people are truthful to you?
I would hope that people are as truthful as circumstances merit, without feeling the need to blurt out hurtful crap, which is how I operate. So do not expect me to tell you that your butt looks fat in those pants, when I could say something kind instead. Besides, fatness is also subjective.
Here’s an example of a “truth” I would have been better off without. Many readers know the story of how I was “ghosted” in 2016 at Thanksgiving by the last man I dated. I was extremely upset and disappointed, but I was getting over it with support from my lovely daughters. Yet this jerk kept contacting me to “explain,” due to his feelings of guilt, I guess. The first time he contacted me, he said he had hoped I would have chased him, which made him sound like an idiot, so that wasn’t too disturbing.
But he contacted me a couple more times in 2017 to bitch about how I was too old for him (3 year age difference) and how I failed to make him chocolate chip cookies, which made him feel unloved after he’d spent a bunch of money on our dates. This made me feel awful, and I sunk into a depression that lasted over a year. I didn’t need to hear any of that shit, even if it was “the truth,” and I would have been vastly better off if he had kept it to himself or complained to someone else about me.
Here’s the thing about “truth” ~ it’s a very slippery thing that most people feel privy to without reason, and they get all huffy and self-righteous if you dare to question their worldview. I don’t like dealing with huffy, self-righteous people, so I generally walk away. However, unless you’re solving a mathematical equation, your “truth” is way less absolute than you think it is, so a bit of humor and humility go a long way to make you look like less of a dick (gender inclusive term).
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
Yes, indeed. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams was my favorite childhood book. I have reread it as an adult and it’s still great. As a child, I related to the little boy and his fantasy world, and I could also empathize with the lonely stuffed bunny who craved love and acceptance. The ending still makes me cry. It’s a marvelous story!
Dr. Tanya continues her #5Things series by asking what we no longer buy. Here are mine in no particular order.
1. I no longer buy the idea that I must drive myself crazy by trying to find a boyfriend because somehow, someday “it will all be worth it.” Nope. My sanity is more important than dating.
2. I no longer buy the idea that romantic love is the be-all, end-all of existence and we can’t be happy without it. I’m happier now that I’ve given up on the whole mess than I ever was while I pursued it.
3. I no longer buy the idea that I must force myself to be social and go out and do things when I’m in the mood to have a quiet time at home alone to recharge and contemplate the universe or engage in an intense session of navel gazing.
4. I no longer buy the idea that I must travel, try exotic foods, and experience new things, when I already know what I enjoy and want to continue doing all that stuff in the time I have left, not to mention the fact that travel is too expensive for me anyway.
5. At the same time, I no longer buy the idea that I have to continue doing something just because I’ve always done it. Phooey on traditions and habits if they don’t make me happy!
As far as the material items people say they don’t buy any longer, I downsized and decluttered years ago, so most of those things, such as newspapers and magazines, have been out of my life for a long time.
Light Motifs II 